36 seconds that changed everything

Shelly Brisbin:

36 Seconds That Changed Everything is an audio documentary, written and produced by Texas-based writer, Shelly Brisbin. It tells the story of how a device that once excluded people with disabilities – the iPhone – became one of the most transformative forces in the lives of those same people, once the barriers its software had created were removed.

The story of 36 Seconds begins on the day Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller announced accessibility would be part of the third generation of iPhone software – it took him just 36 seconds to do it. The features he hinted at during those few seconds would go on to have a profound impact on thousands of people who, to that point, had limited access to smartphones. What Schiller and most of the people who bought iPhones that summer couldn’t know, was how great the device’s impact would be for people with disabilities to lead lives of greater freedom, independence, and productivity.

So many of us use our devices without any thought to how to access them but, if you have accessibility issues, it’s not so easy. Apple isn’t perfect but they do a lot to assist those who can’t use their devices like the rest of us do. This is the transcript of the podcast. Thanks to Jason Snell for the link.